Few women at the top

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NSW has the lowest representation of women in leadership roles
in regional local government across Australia according to a survey
conducted earlier this year by the federal Department of Transport
and Regional Services.

"Women's representation on selected regional bodies" examines
women's participation in decision-making in 720 rural and regional
bodies, including 527 local governments and regional development
boards, catchment management authorities, area consultative
committees and major agricultural companies.

Only 4 per cent of non-metropolitan NSW councils have a female
general manager and 7per cent a woman mayor. Among the other states
the lowest representation of female general managers is 3per cent
in Western Australia and of mayors, 16per cent in South Australia
and Queensland.

Often regarded as Australia's male bastion, the Northern
Territory performs best with women accounting for 19 per cent of
CEOs and 28 per cent of mayors. The national averages are 6 per
cent and 17 per cent respectively.

A recent survey by the NSW Department of Local Government found
that the percentage of women elected at the 2004 council elections
(26 per cent) was unchanged from the 1999 elections. Less than 10
per cent of senior managers and less than 29 per cent of middle
managers and administrators in NSW local government are women.

The Centre for Local Government at the University of Technology
Sydney says there are lower proportional numbers of women working
in local government than in the other two tiers of government.

But women are better represented in local government than in
many other organisations in regional areas according to the survey.
It found there are no women chairs on any of the 10 agricultural
companies, eight agricultural commodity councils or eight rural
representative bodies which were surveyed.

The National Farmers' Federation, which resolved in 2000 to
achieve 30 per cent participation of leadership positions and
committees by women by 2005, has no women on its board.

"Momentum for a greater role for women in agricultural bodies
appears to have been lost and even reversed since 2000 in contrast
to a much greater involvement of rural women in the paid workforce
during the same period," the report says.

Other findings of the survey include:

■ While 55 per cent of rural women work, their
representation in rural and regional bodies is seldom above 25 per
cent and commonly considerably less.

■ There is considerably lower representation of women on
rural industry boards (zero to 21per cent) than on regional
organisations such as area consultative committees (12 to 41per
cent).

■ In the 10 publicly listed agricultural companies
surveyed, women accounted for only 7 per cent of board positions
and none of the chairs or chief executives. This compares with 1.1
per cent of chairs, 2.3 per cent of chief executives and 8.6 per
cent of board members among the ASX 200 companies.

■ Area consultative committees have the highest female
representation - 28 per cent of members and 41 per cent of
executive officers - and regional research and development
corporations have the highest proportion (21per cent) of
chairwomen.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that women's representation declines
with the movement from metropolitan to regional to rural suggesting
"powerful cultural and socio-economic factors at work in
determining gender role".

The Australian Local Government Association is supporting a
Going Public conference to be held in Sydney on September 15 and 16
to highlight issues that confront women in the public sector and
politics.